Exploring the PATH system downtown: in videos, pictures and history

From the City of Toronto website: “According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 28 km (17 miles) of shopping arcades. It has 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. In fact, the retail space connected to PATH rivals the West Edmonton Mall in size.” This IPHONE App is a perfect way to get to where you have to go in the PATH. I also have a historical perspective on why the PATH exists today.

This video give you an unique, undergound in the dark idea of the PATH:Reality of the PATH via SKateboard

There are approximate 1,200 shops and services including major retailers, hotels and Tourist Attractions. Small business such as shoe repair and photocopy shops also find their place on the PATH. In doing the research for this piece, I found that the confusing series of maze like tunnels does NOT have enough information.

Parkdale has always been near & dear to my heart.  I remember when I first got out of college and was looking for full-time employment, I came across a job posting for the Parkdale Village Business Improvement Area.  I knew (prior to applying) that Parkdale was an up-and-coming area at the time but also a bit down and out.  I applied and sure enough landed a small gig at the BIA for three months.  That was in 2008, since then much has changed.  But my passion regarding Parkdale has not changed and I’m here to explain why you should love Parkdale too.

Bloordale Village, or “Bloordale” as it’s called, is the strip of Bloor From Dufferin to Landsdowne, and everything South of Wallace/Emerson and North Of Brockton. It’s a solid 4 blocks square, if that, and it’s seriously poppin’ as of late.

The Gaybourhood can be anyone’s neighbourhood. There are quality services, and many of the merchants have been in buisness in the area for years. In short, you don’t have to be gay to get what you are looking for. Here are the top picks for hair salons, gourmet food, resto’s, yoga and a gallery. I am going to let you in on the history of the area. It includes a sex scandal in 1810. and how the legacy of the man behind it, Alexander Wood, is carried on to this day.

Welcome to the famous Kensington Market! With its vast array of shops, juice bars, butchers, bakers, vegetable markets, cafes, and bars it’s pretty difficult to leave once you enter. Having trouble getting there? Just follow your nose to Chinatown (Dundas St. & Spadina Ave.) and then go west. College St. is as far north as you wanna go and Bathurst is the end to the west. Now you’re in it.

Kensingon has always been a working class and multicultural community. In the 1920s Jews from Europe emmigrated to Toronto to form what was once dubbed “The Jewish Market”. In Post-War Toronto, throughout the 1950s, many immigrants from the Caribbean and Vietnam settled in Kensington and helped define the area. Through the 80s and 90s, Kensington became even more diverse seeing immigrants from Central America, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran, Vietnam, and Chile. This cultural diversity has created what we know as Kensington today, offering pretty much anything from all parts of the world.

The Junction is “Toronto’s small town in the city.” It is so close to Downtown TO that it isn’t even funny. Its colourful history starts from meager beginning of railways, trains, and drunks that embarrassed the Prohibitionists. Today, the Junction is a thriving area with renewed concepts of how to run a business. Every place that i write about in this feature all have a common theme. They want to give to their customers an authentic, genuine and organic experience of whatever service they provide. I start with grocery stores, great resto’s and cafe’s and finally, the furniture stores.

For those that know, when I go all in on a neighbourhood, I go all the way in. For years, I was a ride or die Parkdale girl. One friend remarked, “I’ve never met a girl so in love with the hood”. But things change and I hate to break it to you Parkdale, but your time is officially up.

In honor of the Dundas issue we decided to ask the people behind  the  hottest bars on the strip a few questions about whats what, who’s who and where they see the bar culture headed.

No not the place where clones think they’re going if they win the ‘lottery’, but they really die to donate their organs to rich celebrity overlords, the one off the coast of Toronto. A reprieve from the smoggy and bustling metropolis, The Island is a popular destination for city folk looking to cool off and experience nature and goodtimes.

Roncesvalles or “Roncy’s,” as it’s called by laymen and down town folk, is actually a Spanish word. It’s pronounced “Ron-Sess-Veye-ez” and  was named after the battle of Roncesvalles in Spain. It’s a quaint neighborhood that runs east of High Park, west of Brockton, north of Parkdale and south of Dundas and Bloor.

There has been lots written about it lately. Toronto Life even dedicated a whole page in last month’s issue to 21 new businesses that have opened in Roncy’s in the past year. But that doesn’t mean you’ll like it; Neighborhoods, like cities and people, are fickle — you can’t choose the ones you fall in love with. So here’s the skinny on why you should or shouldn’t go to Roncy’s: